Field
Embodiment of the present disclosure relate to semiconductor processing. More specifically, embodiment of the present disclosure relate to methods for seasoning one or more components of a processing chamber to improve process stability and reduce periodic chamber maintenance.
Description of the Related Art
Selective etching of silicon oxide or silicon nitride over silicon has been widely used in semiconductor foundries including Logic, Flash and DRAM of 28 nm and beyond. The selective etching may be of a smaller etch amount, e.g. 20 Å, or a larger etch amount, e.g. 600 A.
There is constant demand for improved Mean Wafers Between chamber Clean (MWBC) and improved etch amount stability for high volume production. As the scale of the semiconductor, for example, in the process of shallow trench isolation (STI) in the recent development of 10 nm Fin field effect transistor (FinFET), the variation on etch rates at the edge region causes non-uniformity within a wafer which triggers chamber periodic maintenance (PM) and reduces MWBC.
Therefore, there is a need for methods and apparatus for improved process stability, increased mean wafers between clean, and/or improved within wafer uniformity.